


finders keepers

by yonghoonxx



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing at Midnight, Kissing in the Rain, Love Confessions, M/M, Platonic Kissing, Secret Relationship, Until It Isn't Platonic Anymore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:39:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yonghoonxx/pseuds/yonghoonxx
Summary: when the oldest son of entrepreneur mr. jung and his fashion designer wife ran away to a freer life, the couple dissolved into panic. their success in having another child only heightened their fear, and unable to bear the thought of losing another son the same way, they chose to spoil little wooyoung sick with everything a boy his age could ask for.for as long as wooyoung can remember, he has only had to do one thing to be given whatever he wants. he sets his gaze on his target, points his little index finger, and announces in a loud, bold, high-pitched voice, "I want that one."the first problem arises when wooyoung is nine. he makes eye contact with the son of his family's new cook and knows instantly that this is what his restless little heart has been searching for all along. he no longer needs all his toys and gifts. he wants park seonghwa.
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 1
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

sooyoung dusts off her blouse and heaves a heavy sigh. "wooyoungie, i know you want to walk far, but your legs aren't that strong yet, okay? next time let's only go as far as the bridge. we don't want you getting tired out." 

wooyoung scowls and stomps on ahead, little face set in an infuriatingly adorable pout. sooyoung never loosens her grip on his wrist, but she thinks she is losing her hold on her own sanity a little more with every day she has to look after this young demon. 

she's so caught up in her thoughts that she almost fails to notice when her charge stops dead in his tracks. "wooyoungie! are you alright, darling?" 

up comes his free hand, and his index finger points. he opens his full lips and announces at full volume, "i want that one." 

sooyoung follows his gaze, already preparing to tell him she'll buy him another dog or bicycle or hat. but when her eyes find what jung wooyoung is pointing at, her jaw drops open in horror. 

a boy just slightly older than wooyoung himself is crouched on the sidewalk, fumbling with a suitcase almost as big as himself. he looks up with wide, terrified eyes set in a pale face, and licks his lips nervously. 

"hi?" he squeaks. 

the new cook's son. sooyoung grabs wooyoung and swings him up the front steps, tugging him into the house and setting him firmly on the bench. "don't move," she orders, knowing he won't dare disobey. "I have to talk to your parents." 

...

as soon as sooyoung is gone, wooyoung does something he's never done before. 

he scans the area quickly and then, heart racing, jumps up from the bench and scrambles outside. normally the door would be guarded by michael, the thin and slightly eccentric house guard from america, but due to the new cook needing help moving in, the whole front yard is completely empty. 

wooyoung runs straight to suitcase boy and smiles wildly at him. "hi! I'm jung wooyoung." 

"I know," the boy stammers. he looks awestruck.

"I know you know! this is the part where you tell me your name." wooyoung crosses his arms over his chest. 

"seonghwa," the boy breathes. "park." 

"seonghwa park?" 

"park seonghwa," suitcase boy corrects, frowning slightly, cheeks dusted pink. "I got mixed up." 

"can i call you hwa?" 

the soft pink cheeks go bright red. "if you want." 

"awesome." wooyoung grabs the handle of the suitcase. "let's get this up to the house." 

together they tug the heavy luggage up the front steps and set it on the porch. wooyoung makes a show of wiping perspiration from his forehead. 

"do you always carry your mom's stuff for her?" 

"I guess," seonghwa mumbles. "her back isn't good." 

"can't your other parent help?" 

"I don't have one." 

wooyoung scoffs. "you only have one parent? everyone has two parents. where's the other one?" 

"he didn't like us," seonghwa says slowly, "so he left, and then he went to prison, and then he died, i guess. so he's gone. I never really knew him." 

"ew," wooyoung says loudly. "but couldn't servants help you carry things?" 

"we are the servants, sir," seonghwa says politely. 

that 'sir' feels like a slap in the face. 

"I'm sorry," wooyoung blurts. "I forgot. don't call me sir, please, just call me wooyoung." 

seonghwa nods, his lips quirking up just the slightest bit. 

the moment is shattered as the front door swings open and michael lets out a sigh of relief. "wooyoungie, god, we were frantic! we thought you'd been kidnapped! oh, dear lord, never do that again... you scared us terribly, wooyoungie." he hugs the boy tightly. 

"it's my fault," seonghwa says in a small voice. "I asked him to come back out here." 

"why?" michael asks firmly. seonghwa flinches. 

"to help-" his voice cracks. "to help me with the luggage." 

michael's face is fierce. "you asked jung wooyoung to help you with the luggage? wooyoung?" 

"I'm sorry," seonghwa gasps. he raises his head, eyes glistening with tears. 

michael draws in a sharp breath. 

"little park," he says abruptly, "go back to your mother. I'll be taking wooyoung in to wash up and eat lunch. he'll be busy for the rest of today." 

seonghwa nods and scrambles away. 

wooyoung watches him go, and his heart pounds in his chest. he feels warm. seonghwa makes him feel warm. 

seonghwa makes him feel... happy. 

and the one thing wooyoung's money has never bought him is that feeling. 

...

"ma'am," sooyoung gasps, bowing, "sir," bowing the other way, "there's a terrible problem." 

mr. jung smiles politely. "ah, there's a problem... not with wooyoung, i hope?" 

"I'm afraid it is," sooyoung says desperately. "of course you know that the new cook is moving in today."

"of course." 

"and her son with her." 

"yes," mrs. jung says slowly, eyes narrowed. 

"well, I-" sooyoung falters. "I know this is- a sensitive topic, but you always feared wooyoung ending up like his brother, in terms of- feelings.. and attractions... you know?" 

mr. jung leans forward. "you think the boy is a homosexual?" 

"I don't know, i barely know him, and he's eleven years old," sooyoung wails. "that's not the problem. he's just beautiful, ma'am, sir. he's the most beautiful person I've seen in my life. and wooyoung looks at him like I've never seen him look at anything before. he looks so... enthralled. enraptured. he said he wants that boy." 

mr. jung scowls darkly. 

"i cannot risk losing such a good cook," he says slowly, "and her son is her greatest treasure. it's on you now, sooyoung. keep the two away from each other. if they interact even once, you're fired. understood?" 

"understood." 

she opens the door to mayhem. 

...

"hey," seonghwa whispers. 

wooyoung giggles and presses a finger to the older boy's pretty lips. "shhh." they link hands and sneak farther from the house, out to the garden shed, where seonghwa lights a candle. 

"happy last day as a fifteen-year-old," wooyoung whispers. "only one more hour 'til your sweet sixteen." 

"and I've never been kissed," seonghwa giggles softly. 

wooyoung raises a challenging eyebrow. "i can fix that." 

seonghwa breathes in, cheeks going bright pink. "oh?" 

"oh?" wooyoung mocks. he leans in and presses the softest of fleeting kisses to seonghwa's lips. 

"now when you wake up and you're sixteen," he says in a hushed voice, "you won't have to say you've never been kissed." 

seonghwa looks up at him. the candlelight reflects in his wide sparkly eyes. "you're my best friend, wooyoung. thank you for everything... all the risks you've taken just to talk to me." 

"it's nothing," wooyoung shrugs. "you're worth it." 

seonghwa blushes. "i don't want you getting in trouble." 

"do you want me to stop coming to see you?" 

"no!" 

they laugh softly, seonghwa's eyes crinkling up in the cutest way, the way that makes wooyoung's heart do backflips. "should i give you an extra kiss good night, too?" 

"why are you so desperate to kiss me? is that a friend thing?" 

that hurt, but wooyoung won't admit it. "I like giving kisses. I'm a very affectionate person." 

"then go ahead," seonghwa shrugs, and wooyoung drops a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "good night, hwa. happy sweet sixteen."


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> implied smut in this chapter .. like i didnt actually write it but it's there. also update: there is a time skip of a couple years over this chapter, and they are over 18 in the last part! i just realized i forgot to mention that

wooyoung kisses seonghwa five more times before it all changes. 

the first is hardly a kiss; a brief brushing of lips, a quick goodbye, a wave, and he's out of seonghwa's sight, heart racing. he already longs for the feeling against his mouth again. 

he kisses seonghwa for the second time in the sunshine, out in the open, right in the middle of a bike path. he's managed to escape his parents and go for a walk, and entirely by coincidence, he encounters seonghwa. 

"hwa!" he greets, and smiles at him. seonghwa's face lights up, and he runs back to walk alongside wooyoung. 

"are you alone?" he asks. 

"alone," wooyoung confirms. his grin widens and he tilts his head up to lightly kiss the corner of seonghwa's mouth. 

seonghwa's smile is very endearing. 

he kisses seonghwa the third time in the rain. 

it's early morning, not even 6:00 yet, and the air is bitter cold. sheets of rain are falling everywhere when wooyoung sneaks out to meet seonghwa in the back yard. 

seonghwa is shivering in an oversized yellow raincoat, his mouth set in a stubborn pout. wooyoung can't resist. he presses his own lips briefly to the other's, which look soft, pink and inviting. 

they barely have a chance to talk, but wooyoung feels warm inside for the whole rest of the day. 

he kisses seonghwa for the fourth time in his mother's bedroom. 

he's visiting seonghwa, and his mom is out. they find themselves in her room, on her bed, staring out the window; the trees are rustling in the breeze. seonghwa hums. 

"i miss you," wooyoung says. 

it seems stupid, but seonghwa understands. he smiles softly. "i miss you too." 

wooyoung kisses him quickly and murmers "one day it'll be okay." 

"one day," seonghwa echoes, and wooyoung believes it. 

he kisses seonghwa for the fifth time at the lake. everything changes that night. 

it's late. they've run away again, and decided to stop and swim under the moon, like the teenage idiots they are. wooyoung has never seen seonghwa's entire body bare before, and it is very alluring, but he doesn't have time to dwell on it as seonghwa dunks him underwater immediately. 

wooyoung spits lake water and coughs. "i hate you!" 

seonghwa is giggling, but stops when wooyoung stands up out of the water. he just has time to gasp "oh, no," before wooyoung shoves him under. 

they play-fight for a long time before finally resting, looking at each other like it's their first time really making eye contact. seonghwa is beautiful, wooyoung thinks, and before he can lose his confidence, he leans in to kiss seonghwa's lips. 

it's not the first time, but it feels different. seonghwa finally kisses back, his hands coming to rest on wooyoung's shoulders. he makes a soft sound into wooyoung's mouth, and it feels unreal, like all the air has been knocked from wooyoung's lungs. 

"i love you," wooyoung gasps against seonghwa's skin. "you know that, right? you know i love you." 

seonghwa pulls away and looks at him, his eyes shining. "but your parents?" 

"i don't care." wooyoung shakes his head. "they can say what they want. i love you." 

seonghwa tilts his head, and his lips quirk upward. he says it slowly- not hesitating, but rather savoring the words- "i love you, too." 

wooyoung loves him that night. the whole thing is a blur in his mind, just the warm breeze and the sound of water and seonghwa's skin beneath his fingertips, his lips parted in a soft cry of ecstasy. wooyoung loves him, loves him so much it puts an ache in his chest just thinking about it. 

he holds seonghwa in his arms and smiles like it's the greatest day of his life, and then he's crying, and those soft hands are brushing away the tears as seonghwa's familiar gentle voice comforts him. wooyoung doesn't even register the words, but the voice alone is enough to soothe him. he hurts, his heart and his head and his eyes hurt, and he wants to stay here with seonghwa and never have to leave him again. 

i love you, he says maybe once, maybe a thousand times. i love you. he never tires of hearing the answer. 

and when it's time, he gets back on his feet and walks away again.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tw : between the asterisks (**) there is a brief discussion of sexual harassment.

wooyoung graduates high school. 

it's all just a haze of events blurring together, and it honestly feels more like he's watching his own life played on video, rather than living it. he graduates, he grips his diploma and hugs his friends (and, rather grudgingly, his parents) and says a few words which he himself barely hears. he gets in the car, he rides back home. he goes to bed. he doesn't sleep. 

when he's absolutely sure it's safe, he lets himself drop silently out the window and hurries past the first tool shed- out of the patrolling guard's sight. still running on tiptoe, he practically flings himself through seonghwa's open window and they hug. 

"you did it," seonghwa whispers. "i heard from mom. i'm proud of you." 

wooyoung's heart swells. he doesn't know what exactly he and seonghwa are, but the warmth in his chest when he looks at the other never leaves, and those three softly spoken words play in his mind on repeat. 

"i just... can't believe it," he murmers. "high school- i graduated. i'm done with high school. oh my gosh, i'm done with high school." 

seonghwa laughs, his gentle eyes twinkling. "what's graduating like?" 

he sounds wistful. wooyoung opens his mouth, then closes it. 

"you didn't graduate?"

it's just a question, not a mockery. still, wooyoung winces as he says it. 

"never went to high school," seonghwa mumbles. "we couldn't- couldn't afford it, and mom was always so busy." 

he fiddles with the buttons of his pink pajama top. they fall into awkward silence. 

"it's... not all that," wooyoung says lamely. 

he studies seonghwa's features- the high cheekbones and defined jaw, prominent nose and full lips, flawless skin, wide bright eyes that seem to reflect the light more than any human eyes he's ever seen. he decides that seonghwa is the most beautiful person he has ever been blessed by the sight of. 

"i don't care whether you graduated or not," he says suddenly. 

seonghwa is smart. he may not have gotten through high school, but it sure as hell had nothing to do with any lack of intelligence. he knows how people work, how to say the right thing, how to comfort a heart that's hurting. that, wooyoung thinks, is a skill no school could ever teach. 

and seonghwa is odd, in a way; certain characteristics of his personality making wooyoung smile affectionately at the sheer strangeness of them, but he's earnest in every action and every word, right to the core. seonghwa is smart and beautiful and he cares, so much that his loving nature shines around him like a halo. 

"i don't care," wooyoung repeats. "graduating isn't shit. you're smarter than half the students i studied with anyway." 

seonghwa is looking at him with an expression wooyoung doesn't recognize. he feels a brief moment of panic. 

"oh man, did i say something wrong?" he stumbles out worriedly, feeling a little ridiculous but more concerned than anything else. 

"graduating isn't shit?" seonghwa repeats. "so are you... not excited? about your graduation?" 

wooyoung gives a disbelieving laugh. "hwa, i'm just glad to be out of there. i didn't like high school at all. cliques and backstabbers and people who call your best friend disgusting names just because-" 

he cuts off, dread washing over him as he realizes he's gone too far- talked too much in front of the exact best friend he had just mentioned. he swallows down the lump rising in his throat, avoiding seonghwa's eyes. 

"because what?" seonghwa asks innocently, but the expression is still there. 

"nothing," wooyoung mumbles. "it's not important." 

it was. the memory of the kids in his class laughing at the jungs' teenage servant because he was poor would never leave him. he had wanted to hit them, he should've done more than just snapped at them- 

there's another heavy silence. 

then seonghwa says in a small voice, "i had to walk by your school a few times." 

* 

that expression is still there, even as seonghwa's face twists. he bites his lip, not looking at wooyoung. 

"there were... students outside," he says carefully. "i didn't see you, though. i was just- just walking, i was going to the fucking store, and one of them whistled after me. i stopped. i should've not done that." 

wooyoung stares at him, somehow guessing what's coming, every atom in his body repelling the idea. no one hurts seonghwa. no one should ever want to hurt seonghwa. 

"he called out to me," seonghwa says lightly, "and asked if i worked for the jungs. i said yes. he laughed and said he had something to- to tell me." 

he looks pointedly away. "i thought it was about you, of course." 

the atmosphere is growing increasingly tense. wooyoung bounces his knee nervously, his hand twitching vaguely in the direction of seonghwa's hip. 

"he reached a hand out and smacked me right on the thigh," seonghwa says bitterly, "then tried to put his arm around my waist. he called me something, i don't feel like... repeating that part. i got out of there then. i was freaking out, and i felt stupid- i guess there's no reason for me to tell you this," he laughs, but it sounds wet, like he's crying at the same time. "but it scared me, so much that i'm having some, um, trouble leaving the house." 

*

wooyoung feels cold all over. 

"when was this?" he asks faintly. 

"two weeks ago," seonghwa says hoarsely. 

wooyoung reaches out as though by instinct and hugs him. he feels seonghwa's tears on his shoulder, and begins gently rubbing his back, humming softly. 

"that was disgusting," he murmers, "and i'm just glad you're safe. everyone at that school is a fucking loser. i don't think i made a single good memory there, but this- is worse than anything i ever had to go through." 

seonghwa sits up slowly, drying his tears. "sorry." 

"No," wooyoung practically snaps. "there's no reason for you to be sorry." 

seonghwa blinks, his eyes not unlike those of an owl plushie wooyoung used to have. he has always liked owls. 

"for getting your shirt wet," he supplies. 

wooyoung giggles. he can't help it. seonghwa smiles at him, and his eyes are so genuinely happy at wooyoung's happiness that his mind goes momentarily a little blank. 

"i love you," he gasps, out of nowhere, and kisses seonghwa again. 

he tastes like hope and spring and peppermint, and wooyoung falls again.


End file.
